


Him and I

by ambientbliss



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Anxiety, Bruises, Cheating, Consent is a Big Deal, Depression, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Ignored Text Messages, Malia is a pain in the ass, Mentioned Stiles Stilinski/Malia Tate, Military references, Original Female Characters - Freeform, Possessive Stiles, Probably should have been posted to tumblr, Rough Sex, Stiles might be dumb sometimes., Stiles needs to actually think, The OC isn't a slut I promise, Theo is a Little Shit, it is all consensual, stiles stilinski - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 23:06:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13623393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambientbliss/pseuds/ambientbliss
Summary: Rory didn't know that her little arrangement with Stiles would turn out this way. She also didn't know how much Stiles actually needed her.I suck at summaries. This is a drabble.





	1. How we got here

**Author's Note:**

> UnBeta'd  
> I do not own TW.

When it rains, it pours. That’s usually how it works right? Living in Beacon Hills seemed to amplify that. Throwing in the supernatural made life even more difficult. Normal teenager issues were always low on the list of things to deal with during the week. But, if you just ignored things until you hoped they went away, or you just kept everything to yourself eventually the bottle overflows and your screwed. 

That's where Rory was. The bottled had overflowed and she was going to be knee deep in shit she didn't want to face. Physically however, Rory was exactly where she wanted to be... or _had_ wanted to be. Laying in bed not sleeping next to one Stiles Stilinski. He was laying on his stomach, one hand buried under his pillow facing her. His lips parted slightly as he slept. 

Rory looked at him, noticing the moles and pale skin that seemed to shine in the reflecting light of the streetlights. He was shirtless. Showing muscles that few knew he had. Jenna couldn't stop looking. Hell, she didn't want to stop looking. Stiles looked so peaceful, so calm and relaxed. Things that just hours ago he was not. 

They had a kind of agreement. If you could call it that. They hadn't set out any guidelines or rules. Instead fairly quick, hot, heated sex was their thing... at least behind closed doors. In public or in normal hours they were best friends. They had been since 4th grade. Losing a parent can create a certain bond. Losing your mom is something even harder, so when your best friend loses their mom, you become closer.

Rory and Stiles understood each other on a different level. Hell the three of them, Scott included obviously,  were inseparable. It made it easier when Scott's parents got a divorce, and when Rory’s Aunt moved in to help since her father was getting stationed in Washington. 

The boys had been worried that she would leave. Hell, she was worried. But her father didn't want to take her away from the people who helped her through losing her mom, and the place where all of their memories were made. 

It was kind of interesting how they fell into this pattern. A party at Lydia's paved the way for a drunken hookup. Then the supernatural turned it into a release of pressure. If one of them had a near death experience they were pushing each other over the closest flat surface. Lacrosse wins, panic attacks, or nights where they just couldn't sleep. Either Rory was sneaking into Stiles's house or Stiles was sneaking into her room. 

Rory wouldn't lie to herself in the fact that she had a huge, if not epic crush on Stiles and that this arrangement wasn't helping. Each time one of them left it felt like more and more of her was leaving with him, but she would take what she could get. But in pure Beacon Hills fashion, the supernatural messed everything up. 

A few weeks ago Scott and the pack made it their mission to help Malia. Turning her back into a human, and trying to help her cope. As it turned out her way of coping was Stiles. The calls and texts arranging their little secret slowed over time, until they stopped. Everything else was business as usual. At least that is what everyone else thought. 

Rory watched from the sidelines as Malia saddled her way up to Stiles. At lunch Malia would fight for Stiles’s attention, and Rory would sit next to Allison and Isaac just watching. Mostly trying to keep her face in check and her emotions in check. Showing jealousy would immediately let the pack in on something they didn’t need to know. 

What was worse than watching Malia stake her claim, was when Stiles would make eye contact with her. Twitching his eyebrow a little, silently asking if she was okay. As the weeks went on, this little scene repeating itself everyday, Rory got tired of it. Tired of seeing Stiles with Malia, seeing Malia follow Stiles around, just _Malia_.

Avoiding Stiles would be best right? That’s what she thought. It clearly hadn’t worked out so well for her because he was in all of her classes and they were running with the same pack. Although, Rory did get a laugh out of how frustrated Malia was when Theo showed up. Stiles spent most of the lunch periods explaining how Theo wasn’t to be trusted. 

Each day he seemed to get more and more irritated. At first it was funny to see, it was like their Stiles was back. Erratic, paranoid, flailing around the more he spoke. It didn’t seem like Scott was going to listen to him. Which seemed odd, but lately Scott was all about this whole being friends with everyone thing. 

Today was different. Rory had gone to school, heading straight to her locker. While she pulled things from her locker she felt someone standing next to her. Leaning on the locker. When she turned her head, there was Theo. Wearing an all too tight black shirt. He shouldn’t have that many muscles. The only ones allowed that much muscle was Derek and the twins. Something was off about Theo, she believed Stiles, but she would entertain this. For now.

“Theo.”

“Rory.”

“Is there something I can help you with?”

“I just… we don’t talk much. I thought maybe we could get to know each other. Maybe if I can show you that I am actually a good person, you can help me convince Stiles.”

Rory froze for a moment at the mention of Stiles. The thought of him with Malia still hurt. It shouldn’t, considering they were never dating, and they hadn’t put a label on it. In fact, they had said multiple times that they didn’t know what this was or how long it would continue but it was a secret. Remembering her present company, Rory looked up at Theo to see him looking down the hall. Her eyes followed his to find Stiles standing at his locker. Malia was trying to get his attention but his eyes were fixed on her and Theo. His eyes narrowed. 

If her interactions were going to be a way to get back at Stiles, then she would take the opportunity. Maybe she would even be able to get more information from Theo.

“He doesn’t trust you.”

Why did she say that?

“I know.”

“I don’t know if I trust you. I will give you a chance, but most of the time he is right.”

“Give me a chance to prove you wrong?”

Theo inched closer, as if he was subtly trying to make a move on her. Nope. Not going to happen. Rory stepped back, shutting her locker. She caught a glint of something in Theo’s eyes. Something that resembled anger. Like he didn’t handle being turned down very well. Red flag number one. 

Somehow Theo was in a majority of Rory’s classes. Maybe she just hadn’t noticed it as much. But now overtime she sat down he was either behind her or next to her. During chemistry Theo sat at her table. It was the one class that used to be just her and Stiles. He was always her lab partner. It threw Rory off sitting here without Stiles. Instead Theo smirked, and Stiles sat behind them at another table. 

“You know being a jerk isn’t going to win him over right?”

She spoke without looking at Theo. Her eyes scanning the lab instructions. 

“I thought maybe we could get a chance to chat here, more privately.”

“What makes you think I would want to do anything in private with you?” The sarcasm was thick in her voice. If this was going to be a cat and mouse game, she wasn’t going to be the mouse. Her eyes flicked up to Theo to see feigned shock on his face.

“Have you ever thought about it? Being with a werewolf?”

“Define _being_.”

“Straight to the point… I like it.”

His words were loud enough that Stiles could hear him. Rory caught sight of Stiles shifting in his seat. One hand tapping on the lab desk in anger. She knew his movements and fidgeting like that back of her hand. Honestly, Rory didn’t know where this conversation was going and she didn’t really want to go down this road with Theo. She _knew_ what he meant but she was stalling.

They continued working through the lab instructions, continuing small talk but not the conversation they had perviously started. Their banter back and forth was actually starting to become entertaining. Theo was funny, but every time Rory shut down a comment he would grumble a little. Clearly not happy with rejection. While she hated some of the conversation topics that Theo wanted to start, Rory was willing to continue to talk to him. 

As class ended Theo walked out next to her, and walked her to her locker. Basically ending the day like it had started. He stood, leaning against the locker. Just watching her. Rory was used to being watched. Someone in the pack was always watching everyone, but it felt weird when it was Theo. It wasn’t protective, or even enduring. This was more like a predator observing prey. Maybe Theo went for her because while she isn’t the only human, she is the easiest and weakest to get to.

Unease crept along her skin the longer he stood there. Now she was over analyzing things. It was a Stiles move… no… it was a _them_ move. She and Stiles always over analyzed things, it was honestly how they got out of most of the shit they were in. Stiles was right. Theo wasn’t to be trusted. While Theo rambled about something, Rory was assessing her potential escape points. Scott and Stiles’s lockers were only a short distance down the hall. Theo wouldn’t try anything in public would he? With trying to win a spot in the pack? The school was teaming with pack members. All she had to do was ask for help. 

“Are you even listening?” 

Theo laughed, looking at her like he was fascinated. It could be endearing but it made Rory’s skin crawl.

“Sorry. I was in my own head. What were you saying?”

“I was asking if you wanted to come study tonight. Maybe watch a movie or something. My parents aren’t going to be home so it would be just us.”

Rory thought for a moment. It was Thursday. Usually Stiles and her got together on Thursdays to bust through homework. Especially on the Thursday’s before a break. Granted, Rory had been spending most of her nights alone now so she didn’t have plans. It still didn’t sound like a good idea.

“I have a standing study group today. Rain check?”

“Sure. I’ll hold you to it.”

Rory smiled, then ducked around him heading toward her car. It surprised her when Theo didn’t follow, the painful surprise was the look Stiles gave her when she passed him getting to her car. Was that jealousy? No. There was no way. Rory couldn’t help but continue looking at him in her rear view as she pulled out and got in line to leave the school. Stiles’s eyes were glued on to her car, even Malia couldn’t pull his attention away. The boy only looked away when Scott approached. Rory continued to watch, and noticed that Malia had stopped trying to get his attention. Something was up. It probably had to do with Theo, but she didn’t want to have any part of it. With a sigh, she stopped looking and focused on getting out of the school parking lot.

++++

When Rory got home, she was alone. Her aunt leaving a note that she would be back for dinner. It was okay, at this point she was used to being alone. And right now, she didn’t want to talk about anything so being alone was great. She spent the time finishing homework, and getting everything ready for her trip on Friday night. 

As she finished packing her bags, Jenna called up the stairs for her. As Rory walked down the stairs to the kitchen she could smell the delicious scent of burgers from their favorite fast food place. Jenna was a great Aunt, she really was. She didn’t try to replace Rory’s mom, how could she? Her father, Jenna’s brother, had felt bad when Jenna became a permanent fixture. Thinking that she was losing out on opportunities, but with Jenna not being able to have children, she relished in the task of taking care of someone. Especially her niece. 

Rory’s mother died suddenly. A car accident. She had been Jenna’s best friend so all of them being able to help each other heal from the loss made them a closer family. It also made Rory closer to Stiles.

“Are you all packed and ready?”

“Yeah. I figure I will get dad’s present when I get there. That way I won’t have to pack it. Then I will ship some of my stuff back if necessary. Are you sure you don’t want to come?”

A smile crept up Jenna’s face.

“I’m sure kiddo. I’ve got projects to work on, plus I am going to your grandparent’s for Christmas so, it will be fine.”

Rory nodded, digging into her burger. Nights like these with Jenna, when both of them can just relax and enjoy greasy food and a terrible movie were worth every rushed conversation, microwaved left overs, and missed meals. With Jenna working at the hospital, sometimes she was there for days. It was Beacon Hills. Sometimes they met in a break room at the hospital and ate dinner together when they needed to just see each other after a long day or week. 

As Rory pulled herself from the couch when the movie finished, a sleepy Jenna stretched. Groaning a little.

“Don’t stay up to late. You have school and a flight. See you tomorrow.”

“I won’t.”

She walked up the stairs, and shut herself in her room. This was the time she had to herself when her only task was to try and sleep, to think about what the hell happened today. It was the first time Theo had approached her, or even said more than a few words to her. It’s like he made it his mission to talk to her today, and get to her. 

At first it was fun. Getting Stiles’s feathers ruffled but now that Rory looked back on it… she felt bad. Anxiety pooled in her stomach. In all the years they had been friends neither of them had intentionally done anything to hurt the other. Until now. Rory laid on her bed, in the dark. Listening to Jenna get settled in her room, and thinking about how much she messed up today. What seemed to make it worse was that Stiles was right, and Theo gave off this creepy predator vibe. She almost jumped when her phone started to vibrate, Stiles’s face plastered on the screen.

Her heart was in her throat, the anxiety in her stomach now surging into her chest. They hadn’t talked on the phone in weeks. They hadn’t talked this late at night in a while. Something must be wrong.

“Stiles?”

“Rory…” His voice was low almost a breath, but steady.

“Is everything okay?”

“I guess. I just… needed to talk to you. Can you come over?”

The tone of his voice was different. Something about it signaled that not everything was okay with him and instantly best friend mode was turned on.

“Is your dad home?”

“Nah. He’s at the station. Some break in a case. He broke a case, I broke into his whiskey…”

Shit. Not good. Okay. That’s it, Rory was going. But she was going to have to walk. Explaining where she was going at midnight was not going to be easy considering she had exhausted every excuse in the book.

“I’ll be there. Give me 10.”

“Okay.”

Stiles hung up, and Rory slipped out her window. She had done this a million times before. The Stilinski house was only 5 ish minutes away walking, so she would be there in no time. When her feet hit the ground, Rory waited a moment to see if Jenna had noticed the noise. When no lights turned on, and there was no movement, it was safe to go. 

Rory arrived at Stiles’s house, it seemed like all of the lights were off, but his Jeep was there. She tried the door, it was unlocked. This felt all too familiar. A call late at night, the unlocked door. 

“Stiles?” 

Rory crept up to his room, her heart hammering in her chest. His bedroom door was open just a crack. There were no lights on, but Rory could see his silhouette sitting on the edge of the bed. The door creaked a little when she opened it and his head turned. 

“Stiles?”

He stood, walking over to her. Pushing the door closed. The way Stiles moved was different. He wasn’t as rushed, or jittery. Instead he was swift and steady. Rory had her back against the door. Instantly remembering why she was so attracted to him in the first place. His strong arms caged her in. She could feel his breath fanning over her tainted with whiskey.

“I’m glad you came.” 

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“You’ve been avoiding me. I think.”

As Rory went to say something, his lips were on hers. All too quickly she kissed back. Allowing his tongue to slide against hers like velvet. Whiskey coated velvet. He wasn’t drunk. Maybe buzzed. Rory had seen Stiles drunk, he had no coordination. This was pure confidence laced with Whiskey. Stiles pressed his body against hers, his hand sliding from the door to the side of her neck. A shiver ran through her. She missed how this felt. Probably more than she should and part of her wondered if she should stop him. They broke apart for air, and Stiles hovered over her. 

“What about Malia?”

Instantly Rory regretted asking. Not for the sake of it being a mood killer, but the flash of anger in Stiles’s eyes. His demeanor changed. 

“I caught her fucking Theo. We were supposed to study, she’s failing math. But there she was, riding his cock like she was getting a fucking medal for it.”

Rory had never really heard Stiles talk dirty before, and it sent a rush of pleasure straight through her.

“I thought… you two were…”

“I guess we were. But now she is fucking Theo into oblivion. She never fucked me _that_ good. But you… you should get a medal…”

His voice was husky and almost a whisper. Each word getting her wetter and wetter. Sometimes she hated how much he affected her… in more ways than he really knew about. 

“I saw you with him today.”

“Stiles…”

“Did you fuck him too?”

It was a loaded question. And Rory didn’t know what would be worse, telling him no, or telling Stiles that he offered. Before she could answer, the hand on her throat shifted. Holding her. Not squeezing but holding. 

“No.”

Stiles was on her. Kissing her fiercely, rougher than they had ever kissed before. Sure a lot of their hook ups were rushed and hard but this was different. This wasn’t going to be able to compare to the emotionally charged sex. This… was Stiles needing to get off, and he was anger and hate rolled into passion. Even if Rory wanted to stop, she didn’t know if she would be able to get him to stop. That thought should scare her yet it made her week in the knees.

She would take what he would give her, because in the back of her mind, she knew that he wasn’t with Malia. Instead he was with her. Currently pulling each others clothes off. Stiles was already hard, precum leaking just slightly. Suddenly, she was spun around. Her back to Stiles and he was pushing her forward a little.

“Hands on the bed.”

Rory bent over, bracing herself on the bed as she felt Stiles pushing at her entrance. She gripped the blanket tightly in her fist as he bottomed out. Stretching her completely, Rory couldn’t believe that she had almost forgotten his size. Stiles groaned behind her, placing one hand on her hip and the other over her shoulder his long fingers pressing into her collar bone and the front of her neck. His grip grew tighter as he thrust into her. 

Each drag out and hard thrust back in sent whimpers through her. Stiles was hitting her deeper than he had before and each time his hips met her ass she jerked forward on her toes. Rory reached back, and attempted to push at his thighs but it only frustrated Stiles. He pulled out of her quickly, causing a pained whine to leave her throat. 

Stiles turned her, pushing her back on the bed. This was even more familiar, he hovered over her, quickly put a condom on then grabbed her hips. Sliding her further down the bed then pushing into her again with force. Stiles grabbed Rory’s wrists, holding them tightly in one hand over her head. His grip was almost painful, but the look he was giving her, and the moans coming from him were too good and worth every ache she would have.

Rory could see his anger subsiding, and his grip loosened, but his hips kept the brutal pace. He leaned forward, kissing her neck mumbling in her ear.

“I’ve fucking missed you. I’ve missed how easy it is to move you around, I don’t have to explain anything… you just… do…”

“Y…yeah…”

“Seeing you with him… fucking infuriated me.”

“S…stiles…”

Rory could feel herself getting closer and closer. Her body was shaking and she wasn’t going to be able to hold on any longer. 

“That’s right… say my name. He. Can’t. Have. You.”

Each word driven home by a hard thrust into her. Rory knew Stiles was trying to stake his claim here. But he can’t just have her when he wants her and leave her alone when he doesn’t. That isn’t fair. It’s worse that she has feelings for him. Rory was there, one more thrust and she would be spiraling into a crippling climax. But Stiles stopped moving. He knew her body all too well, but that was a two way street. Stiles’s body was shaking, he was right there. He was going to break any minute. 

“Look at me.” Her eyes locked with his. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. Instead with his eyes locked on hers, Stiles slammed back into her thrusting quicker and harder, never looking away. Rory broke eye contact when her orgasm hit her like a freight train. Her eyes squeezing shut, her body contracting around him. Moaning even louder with every thrust as he came. 

Stiles’s body collapsed to the side of her, his nose buried in her neck lingering a little longer than expected. His skin sticky with sweat. He pulled out gently, then handed her a towel. After cleaning themselves up Stiles plopped down onto his stomach, and Rory laid there thinking about what just happened. When she turned to ask Stiles what the hell was going on, he was asleep. 

That was how they got to where they were now. Rory staring at him while he slept. She knew that Theo didn’t want to study tonight, nor watch a movie. If she had gone over there Stiles may have found her with Theo. But that meant Stiles would have had to come looking for her. It seemed that Stiles was angry that Theo was trying to take both of them away from him. To Rory, this meant that she was disposable. Unless she was needed for something. That’s what hurt, going from best friend to fuck and chuck.

With a sigh she looked around the room. Her eyes catching the alarm clock only to see that it was almost 2 am. She needed to get home and get in bed before Jenna got up for work at 5. It wouldn’t take her long to get home, but she had to go now. 

She climbed from the bed as gently as possible and collected her clothes from the floor. Changing into them and opening the door. The creak was loud in the early morning, and she braced herself for Stiles to wake up. Instead he shifted a bit, groaned and then was steadily sleeping again. Rory locked the door on her way out, and headed down the street. Her body was sore, her wrists, hip, shoulder… she could still feel him holding her, and _in_ her. Sending a shiver through her body.

When she got home and quietly went into the bathroom, she noticed the bruises already forming. A few fingerprints on her throat, and a clear handprint on her hip. Great. She wasn’t really mad about it, the sex was fantastic, and it wasn’t like Stiles had been like that before. It was almost animalistic and even thinking about it sent a pulse through her. Rory needed to get some sleep and think about what she could wear in the morning to keep everyone from seeing her neck. Makeup would only go so far. 

The next morning, when Rory rolled out of bed her body was screaming at her. Each step she took brought a groan to her lips. It felt like she had done an entire work out with just her vagina. Gingerly she got into the shower, cleaned up and got dressed. Putting on a hoodie that the neck would cover her bruises, and had thumbholes to insure it went past her wrists in case marks decided to show up. Thank god for Nike hoodies. 

Her jeans were tight on her hip but she could deal with that. The thing she was worried about most was Stiles, and how he was going to react. As she walked into the school her heart was in her throat. There, at Stiles’s locker was Malia standing with him. It looked like she was talking to him. Most likely trying to explain herself, but he wasn’t listening. Stiles had a hand on his head which seemed to be a signal that he was hung over, he looked rough. As if he showered, didn’t touch his hair and threw on clothes in an attempt to make it to school without throwing up in the Jeep. It was a fairly good look on him. Maybe he was drunker than Rory had originally thought. 

Rory pulled the few things out of her locker that she would need. Thankfully Theo didn’t show, so maybe they would get through this day a little bit easier. As Rory shut her locker, there was Malia, lips locked with Stiles. A cold feeling rushed through her chest. This just proved that she was disposable to him. That whatever they had last night meant nothing even to the standards of their agreement. 

The rest of the day Rory did her best to avoid speaking with Stiles, or sitting next to Stiles. But unfortunately, because Theo didn’t make an appearance at all today, Stiles would be sitting in his usual seat in chemistry as her lab partner. Rory sat down, wincing a little but settling quickly. Stiles’s eyes were locked on her. His usual look of concern that he gave her if she had been injured or almost died. 

“Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

Mr. Harris was absent, so the sub put on some video. Rory didn’t have the energy to actually pay attention. When the lights went out, and the movie started Rory leaned against the wall tipping her head back. Wincing as she moved.

“Rory.”

Her eyes looked back to Stiles, who was staring at her with a little bit of anger mixed with concern.

“What?”

“You’re clearly not fine. What happened to you… who did that?”

His eyes flicked to the exposed bruise on her neck. Fuck. Shit. God damnit. Reckless, utterly recklessness. How could she have not known he would be watching her. But… did he not remember? She just looked at him. Staring. How was she going to tell him that he was the one who fucked her near raw and left marks. He had always been so adamant about not leaving marks.

“That…. it wasn’t a dream….” 

Stiles seemed to come to the conclusion himself. Horror was now written on his face. 

“She lied.” 

Huh…. who lied? Just then the intercom beeped and Rory was being called to the office. Stiles was trying to call after her, but Rory had already cleared the room and was walking to the office. Jenna was waiting, with a smile on her face. 

“I figured I could drive you to the airport. We just need to grab your bags and put your car in the garage.”

“Sounds good.” 

Rory returned the smile that Jenna had given her. Silently thanking her for pulling her out of a conversation she didn’t want to have. As Rory drove, she could feel her phone vibrating in her hoodie pocket. Continuously. She knew it was Stiles, but she couldn’t bring herself to read them. At a stop light she was ready to just shut her phone off when she realized a text was from her father.

**From Dad The snow just started. Be sure to bring some warm clothes. See you soon!**

This was going to be good. Getting away from Beacon Hills and Stiles for a while. After last night, and all the feelings that were building up inside of her, Rory knew she needed time away. That was why she was ignoring the unread texts from Stiles.


	2. Cross my heart hope to die.

The airport was packed. Everyone flying out for their winter vacations. Rory managed to find a corner seat near a plug in. Pulling her knees to her chest, she sat. Watching everyone. Their choices of clothing told Rory where they were going. If it was somewhere warm, or cold. Occasionally she would see someone in animal print and think they were heading to Vegas. 

Her phone buzzed again, and Rory was just about ready to scream but it was Scott. Stiles must have said something was wrong. Scott knew something was up for a while, but respected Rory’s want to keep it to herself. He knew she had feelings for Stiles, he just didn’t know that they had been rolling around in the sheets together for months. 

**From Scotty:  
I’m guessing you are going to your dads. Tell him hi. Have fun and be safe. Text me when you land. Xo.**

Rory smiled to herself reading the message. Scott was definitely like a brother, the protector, best friend, and shoulder to cry on. It wasn’t that Stiles didn’t fill those roles because he did on multiple occasions. He was Rory’s ultimate best friend, he could read her like a book and he was fiercely protective. All things that made this situation worse. His ability to read her was what started the mass amounts of text messages. Rory knew she would have to read them eventually. But she would only do so when she was no where near Beacon Hills. However, she did need to reply to Scott now.

**To Scotty:  
Yeah, caught an earlier flight than usual. I will be back before New Years. Xo.**

As Rory hit send the podium agent called for her chance to board. She shuffled forward into the line, her phone burning a hole in her pocket. Rory thought about reading the messages on the plane, but she was exhausted. A nap sounded better. Maybe she could just ignore the problem until it went away. Shit. No matter what she did, there was always something that reminded her of Stiles. Stiles-isms as Lydia called them.

Passing through the gate was easy, and mind numbing. Rory found her seat quickly. Leaning against the window with her pillow. The flight would only be two hours but still, she hated flying. Rory stored her phone in her backpack, fighting the urge to look through any messages. At least when she landed Rory would get to see her dad, so that should distract her.

Rory woke, balled up in her seat. The plan had just landed, and she could see the flakes of snow falling out the window. Beacon Hills didn’t get much snow, so when Rory visited her father in the winter it was always a treat to get some snow. She pulled her phone from her backpack and fired off a text to Scott and a text to Jenna telling them that she had arrived safely. Her fingers hovered over the messages icon, but she ignored it. Shoving the phone into her pocket and getting off the plane. 

On cue her father, James, stood at the other side of security. Rory’s heart was ready to explode. As soon as her feet hit the tile she was at an all out run. Only stoping when her body hit the rock hard body of her father. If anything, Rory was a daddy’s girl and she always would be.

“Hey Rory. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too Dad.”

The two walked toward baggage claim together. Rory couldn’t help feeling like she was walking on air. It had been a while since she had gotten the chance to see her dad, and it was Christmas time. One of her favorite seasons. Luckily her bags were some of the first to come on the belt beating the rush. Her father grabbed them and lead her toward the car. 

As soon as Rory stepped outside she felt the icy chill of winter in Washington. Instantly she wished she had worn her thicker jacket. When James put her two bags in the back of the SUV, Rory reached for the duffle that she knew her jacket would be in. With trembling limbs she ripped it from the bag and quickly put it on. 

“Cold?”

“Freezing. Duh! I don’t know how you stand this.”

James laughed then shut the hatch. Rory practically ran to the passenger door, and jumped in. Her father turned on the heated seats, and the heater before pulling out of the lot.

“Dinner?”

“Yes! I am starving!”

Rory reached with her almost numb fingers toward the radio dial. Searching for Christmas music. It was tradition. So was driving around and looking at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve. Which was two short days away. Rory was going to have to commandeer a car in order to go Christmas shopping. As they drove through town Rory found herself singing Christmas songs and laughing at her dad’s jokes. 

After being seated at Red Robin James leveled Rory with a look that said spill the beans. To which she returned the confused look. She tried to think about her behavior in the car, and if she let anything seem like she wasn’t happy or okay.

“I talked the Jenna the other night. Is something going on with you?”

“No.” 

She answered too quickly.

“Come on Rory. Is.. is it me being gone? I can move you up here.”

“Dad it’s not you being gone. I mean I would love to see you everyday but… I just… would you accept boy trouble?”

“No.” James laughed. “And what boy?!”

Protective dad immediately coming out. It brought a smile to her face. She knew that there would be some explaining that had to be done. 

“You remember Scott and S… Stiles right?” It was hard saying his name.

“Of course I do. They are like brothers to you.”

“Well… Scott is…” god she was really going to do this. “Different. Our group of friends is a little different Dad. It isn’t always video games and movies.”

“Different how?”

“Uh… I am not too sure that you are going to believe me.”

James sat back in his seat. Tilting his head a little. It was like he was surveying her. Looking for differences, looking for the lie. Rory had too much experience with that, considering most of her friends are walking lie detectors, and her best friend read her like a book. She may only crack because it was her father and he knew her since birth.

“Sweetheart…” his voice was tentative. “You might be surprised with what I would believe. But maybe a public restaurant is not the place to discuss this?”

“Yeah… so not the place. At all.” Rory was relieved. He had a point. Talking about this here, where there could be super hearing picking up on anything and everything was a bad idea. Especially after the year they have had with the Alpha’s.

The waitress came with their food, and the light banter continued as they ate and flowed with them as they got to the car. Rory was concerned that maybe her father would want to continue the conversation in the car, but as they drove it didn’t appear to be the case. The light hearted feeling that Rory had the moment she saw her father had changed. This was a conversation that she had hoped she would never have. Right there along with the teen pregnancy conversation which _no._

It was a short drive to the house from the restaurant. Rory grabbed her duffle, and her father grabbed the suitcase and headed into the house and up to her room. It was a room specifically for her. No other guests could stay in it. It was like her little piece of home with her dad, and a little reminder for him. She remembered picking everything out when he moved, and trying to make it as comfortable as possible. James left her to unpack and get settled. 

While she was putting things in the dresser, and looking through old clothes that she had left here last time her phone buzzed on the nightstand. There was a response from Scott and a response from Jenna. While Rory was replying to Jenna another message came in. Her heart sunk. It was from Stiles. 

Without reading anything, she once again shoved the phone into her pocket. Rory headed downstairs and found James sitting in the living room. There was someone else sitting on the couch. He was younger, probably Derek’s age with a military hair cut. Maybe it was one of her father’s squad members.

“Hey dad… I hope I’m not interrupting.”

James looked up at her, and the younger man turned in his seat. Piercing baby blue eyes stared at her. They were the color of a certain Jeep that belonged to a certain boy that she was trying to pretend didn’t exist right now. He was attractive, young, and Rory instantly felt like she should have showered or something. Her messy bun, jeans, and hoodie were not cutting it.

“Of course not. Rory this is my second, Thomas. Thomas, this is my daughter Aurora.”

“Oh god. Dad.” her voice toned with embarrassment. “Call me Rory. _Everyone_ calls me Rory. I’m not a damn disney princess… do I look like a disney princess?” 

She sent a pointed look to her father as if it was going to wipe off the sickeningly snarky smile on his face. She knew what he was doing, and Rory didn’t like it.

“Hey. I’ve heard a lot about you, and yeah… you kinda do.”

“I’m sure you have.”

Rory was looking at Thomas when she walked by and took a seat on the smaller couch. Noting that his nose flared when she walked by, and he tilted his head to the side closer to her. All things that the wolves in the pack did. It wasn’t uncommon for werewolves to be in the military, but second in command to _her_ father?! Nope. Unacceptable

“Does he know what you are?” 

She was careful to say it so low and quiet that he would only hear it if he were supernatural. Thomas stiffened in his seat, eyes flicking over to where Rory sat.  Before he could answer, James got up proclaiming that he was going to grab some drinks and he would be back. 

“Rory…”

“Thomas. Does he know?”

“How do you know?”

“Call it a very educated guess. Yes or no.”

“Yes.”

“God damnit.” Frustration grew in her chest. “What color are your eyes?”

“What?”

“Color. I’m not stupid when it comes to this. Gold, Blue, or Red.”

Thomas flashed his eyes. Crimson red of an Alpha. When his eyes were human again they stared at her. Rory knew what this was. It was an intimidation attempt. Stare her down and see if she squirms. Derek couldn’t scare her, the wolves in her pack couldn’t scare her. This guy wasn’t going to scare her. 

“What color were they when you were a beta?”

“Blue.”

“Great. Fan-freaking-tastic! Does he know that too? Does he know what that means?”

“Yes, and yes.”

Rory let out a frustrated groan. Leaning her head back on the couch. This couldn’t be happening. Of course her father knew… jesus. She wanted to get away from the supernatural… to what is associated with the supernatural. Instead she walked into her safe haven to find it has been infiltrated. James had entered the room, and put some drinks down on the table. Sprite for Rory, and two cokes for him and Thomas. 

“What’s wrong?”

When she lifted her head Thomas was looking at her like he was going to interrogate her, and her father looked worried.

“Dad…”

“Does this have anything to do with how _different_ Scott is?”

“Yeah.”

“Honey… is it something that should only be in say… a fairytale or folklore?”

“Sir… she knows. There is no need to tip toe around. Rory knows what you are talking about.”

“Thomas?”

“Yeah dad. I know that Thomas is an Alpha. Like an Alpha werewolf. I know that his eyes are blue as a beta and I know exactly what that means. Scott is a werewolf. Most of our friends are. Everyone but Allison, Lydia, Stiles and I. It makes life complicated.”

“How did… I thought you were going to wait until I was in here already to gauge her reaction?!”

Thomas laughed, looking at Rory with a smirk, then back to James.

“She knew the moment she sat down.”

“How?!”

“That is a question I would like to know the answer to as well.”

Rory slumped down in her seat. She didn’t want to talk about this. Not now. Not with them. Bringing up the topic of her pack that included Stiles wasn’t going to be easy.

“You weren’t as subtle as you think. At least to a trained eye.”

Both men looked at her then to each other, then back to her. With an irritated sigh, she continued.

“You.” her arm waved toward him. “You’re nose flared the moment I walked by. I am wearing perfume but a human would not have breathed that deeply, even if they were a creep and they wouldn’t do it in an attempt to be subtle. You were scenting me to see if I am a threat, or if you can get any identifiable markers from me. Then there is the head tilting. So you can hear my breathing, my heart, my movements. You confirmed my suspicions when I whispered to you.”

Rory felt exacerbated. These were things they both should pick up on, why were they so surprised she picked them up? Stiles taught her what to look for, so did Derek. She and Stiles had been in hours of training with Chris and Derek.  But now, she sat here wishing that Stiles was sitting next to her so he could ramble on about some statistic or folklore thing to get the focus off of her. The phone in her pocket felt even heavier now. 

“She’s good sir.” 

There was a shared look of pride between James and Thomas. The pride glowing in her fathers eyes was heartwarming to see. Especially with her actions in the cover of night. The fighting big bads, breaking the law a few different wants, the detentions, the sleeping with her best friend… that was a subject Rory refused to bring up no matter what happened. Thomas sat there, looking at Rory. It should have been weird but now she was intrigued. 

“Alright, alright. Enough staring at me.” she pulled her knees up to her chest, curling into the chair. “And you… don’t get wolf stink on my shit. My alpha won’t be too enthused. Nor my best friend.”

Thomas smirked, but James didn’t seem so enthused. 

“You’re Alpha?”

“We aren’t just a group of friends dad. We are a pack, a family. Derek Hale lost everything, you know that. His pack isn’t traditional, but he is our Alpha one way or another and we are loyal to him.”

“What part do you play?”

“Let me break it down…. Derek, Scott, Isaac, Jackson, Peter and Malia are all werewolves… well Malia is a were coyote… don’t ask… I don’t know and don’t really care. Lydia is a Banshee, Allison is a hunter as well as her father. I know weird to have a hunter in a pack but it gives us an advantage. I research a lot, work with the emissary and plan with…. Stiles.”

James sat there for a moment taking in the information Rory had given him. Thomas was surveying her. Clearly catching on something that she said or her reaction to something. 

“If it’s okay with you two, I’d rather not talk about it anymore. I didn’t come to visit so I could discuss my pack.”

Rory let the timid part of her into her tone. Showing her father that she really didn’t want to talk about it. It didn’t take long for the men to find something else to talk about. Mostly sports and some weird things that their squad has been doing. The whole time Thomas was looking at her. Glancing away when he was caught. It was like a game of cat and mouse and Rory felt like she was right where she had been with Theo, just minus the creeped out part. As it got later the conversation died down and got more serious.

“Unfortunately I have to work tomorrow Rory. My leave weekend starts tomorrow night.”

“Okay, that’s no problem. I actually need to do some Christmas shopping tomorrow, so that will be fine.”

“You don’t have a car.” Thomas was the one to respond. 

“I’ll get an uber or something. It will be fine.”

Thomas just looked at her, cocking an eyebrow. The way Derek did sometimes. Maybe it was an Alpha thing. Rory would have to investigate that further later, along with the other looks all night. Something about Thomas intrigued Rory. Maybe it was the fact that he seemed so young, or that he easily fit in with her father. It seemed as though her father’s life and her life were more similar than either of them really knew. 

Rory was removed from her thoughts when James’s phone rang. He stood, answering and stepping out of the room. Once again leaving Rory and Thomas alone together. Thomas opened his mouth to say something and her phone buzzed in her hoodie pocket. Rory had been so good about not looking at it, not thinking about it until now. 

“Sorry. Just a sec.” She pulled the phone from her pocket and looked at the screen. Stiles’s name was plastered all over the screen. Missed calls, unread texts, voicemails, missed FaceTime requests. For a moment Rory felt like there was a hole in her. A black void. One where stupid Stiles freaking Stilinski should be. An arrant thought passed through her mind, thinking of the feeling of Stiles’s lips on her neck. She sighed heavily, then shoved her phone back in her pocket and looked back at Thomas.

“Boyfriend?”

“What? No. Not at all.” 

“Sorry, I misread the uh…”

Great. Another nosey wolf. Picking up on scents he shouldn’t. God damnit. Rory rolled her eyes. She was going to have to climb her way out of this somehow.

“It’s fine. What… uh… what were you going to say before my friend so rudely interrupted?”

“It seems like they have been trying to interrupt all night. I could hear the buzzing. I figured you knew.”

“It was situated just perfectly that I didn’t feel it. Not until now.”

“Huh.” Thomas shifted in his seat. “Anyway. I was just going to say that it is nice to finally meet you. Your dad talks about you all the time. He left out how pretty you are but that is a protective father for you.”

Was he seriously flirting?! Rory was exhausted. The whole mistake of flirting with Theo, her encounter with Stiles last night, now this… Rory was not this person. She wasn’t like Lydia. Not that Lydia was anything but a classy, smart woman. But Lydia was beautiful, the most sought after girl in school. She could flirt on a whim with anyone. Rory… she couldn’t. Half the time her flirting was bad puns and making jokes that no one laughed about. No one but Stiles and Scott. 

Before she could reply, her father was walking back into the living room. Rubbing his face with his palm. 

“Thomas, you have your go bag in your truck right?”

“Yes Sir. Don’t tell me we are getting shipped?”

“No. But it is a whiteout. Most of I-5 is closed, side streets are piling with snow drifts. The city is going to do their best to clear it out tonight but they are advising limited travel. Looks like you are bunking here. The spare room is yours as usual.”

“Thanks Sir.”

James mentioned having to work on a few reports in his den for a while, so Rory decided that she was going to head up and try her best to get through the masses of messages on her phone. Her father kissed her on the forehead and she headed upstairs, with Thomas on her heals. 

“Well this is me.” Rory stopped at her door, knowing the spare was just crossed the hall. “Uh… have a good night.”

“You too Rory.”

She smiled then walked into her room, closing the door behind her. Surrounded by her things and the silence, Rory changed. Sweatpants and an old Lacrosse shirt. It was then that she realized the shirt was Stiles’s that she had stolen. With a huff she took it off and put on a different shirt, with a hoodie to keep her extra warm. 

Rory sat on her bed and looked at her phone. Her heart was in her throat, and familiar anxiety was coursing through her veins. She started with the text messages first, trying to build up her courage to hearing his voice. Each becoming more and more frantic.

**From Stiles:Rory I need to talk to you. Actually talk to you. Come on answer the phone. Please? Can we meet up?**

**From Stiles:Please answer your phone.**

**From Stiles:  
Why did Jenna come get you? Are you really okay?!**

**From Stiles:  
Seriously Rory… I need you to answer me. I’m sorry. I’m an idiot. Please just… pick up. **

**From Stiles:YOU LEFT?! Just… you… without saying anything? You’re coming back right? Please say you are coming back.**

**From Stiles:  
Somethings wrong. So freaking wrong. Rory… I don’t… please just text me back. **

**From Stiles: I shouldn’t have done what we… what I did. It was a mistake. Call me.**

Rory stopped there for a moment. Was Stiles saying that them ever having sex was a mistake? Or was he saying last night was a mistake? Nothing made sense, but there were more messages. Each one begging her to answer or call him back, or text him back or something. Anything. The last text message that Stiles sent was confusing.

**From Stiles:Theo got to me. I’m sorry…**

Without trying to read into it too much Rory moved on to the three voicemails that were left.

_Beep….._

_Rory! Pick up… please. I… come on… we have to talk about this. I know you don’t want to but… please… call me._

_Click._

_Beep….._

_Why did Jenna pick you up? I’m freaking out here Rory! SHUT UP MALIA! GO AWAY. Sorry… I… fuck I’m so sorry. Please call me._

_Click._

_Beep…..._

_Please… just… tell me you don’t hate me. Tell me that I didn’t…. I mean I know I did… but that we… you were…. fuck. I can’t lose you too. Not you Rorylar. I just… call me… please…_

_Click._

In the last message Stiles’s voice was quieter, weaker. There was a shake to it that Rory hadn’t heard since his dad was kidnapped by the Darache. The way he said her name, her full name gutted her. The phone vibrated in her hand with another text message.

**From Stiles:  
You left your read receipts on…**

Rory’s hands started to shake. Was she going to reply? What the hell was she going to say to him? When her phone vibrated again she was nervous that it would be Stiles. Instead it was Scott. 

**From Scott:  
How is Washington? Mom said it was supposed to snow a lot?**

**To Scott:  
Cold. It’s a white out right now. One of dads soldiers is staying with us until tomorrow when he can drive out. There’s something about him... I’ll fill you guys in later. **

Sure there was something about Thomas, but right now all Rory’s mind was filled with was Stiles. How shaky he sounded, how frantic his texts were. This behavior was contradicting his previous behavior. Stiles wasn’t ignoring her, he wasn’t treating her like she was disposable. She wanted to text him and call him and tell him that everything is fine and will be fine. But she couldn’t. The thought of Malia kissing him after they were together, the way he handled her and the things he said. Rory felt like she was still disposable. 

The screen of her phone was blurring with the tears forming in her eyes. Rory had told herself she wouldn’t cry about this, but here she was doing exactly that. Then her phone rang, continuous vibrations with the blurry face of Scott. 

“Hey.” Her voice was watery. 

“Rory...”

That... that wasn’t Scott… it was Stiles. Of course he would take Scott’s phone. She didn’t say anything, she just sat there. One again her heart making its home in her throat. 

“You don’t have to say anything… just… don’t hang up yet okay?”

She sighed. Letting him know that she wouldn’t hang up. 

“Okay…” his voice shook a bit as he let go of a deep breath. “A lot of things happened… a lot… and I lost control of the situation. That isn’t an excuse… fuck Rory, there isn’t an excuse for what I did. I thought I had dreamed it… and that sent me on a whole different train of thought and… I’m so sorry.”

The tears that had been building finally spilled over. Leaving hot trails down her cheeks. With a sleeve covered hand she covered her mouth, trying to keep herself from letting him know that she was crying. 

“Scott said you’re coming back. He said you didn’t tell him anything else… I believed him. But you know me… I got my hands on his phone and I looked. I just… when you get back… I don’t want you to hate me. I get it if you do but..”

Stiles started to speak again but there was a soft knock on her bedroom door. Fuck. This was not the time for visitors. Especially her father… and Thomas wasn’t ideal either. As Rory stood to go to the door she let out a sigh and sniffed. 

“Are you crying?! Fuck. God damnit. Rory…”

Pulling the phone away from her face a little she opened the door finding Thomas standing there in his gym shorts and t-shirt. Clearly not cold from his werewolf temperature. 

“I could hear your heart, are you okay?”

“Who is that?” Stiles’s voice was clear through the phone. He heard Thomas. “Rory….”

“Stiles… I… I gotta go okay.”

“No. Don’t… Rory! Don’t hang up please…”

Rory looked at Thomas, his brow crinkled together with concern. 

“Come in Thomas.” She put the phone back to her ear. “I gotta go.”

“Okay.” Stiles sounded defeated. “I understand. Just uh be careful up there… okay. Bye.”

That was a weird end of their call. Stiles was so adamant on keeping her on the phone, but then he just gave in so readily. Thomas cleared his throat behind Rory, reminding her that he was there. She shook her head and put her phone on the nightstand, moving to sit on the edge of her bed nodding for Thomas to follow suit. 

They sat together in silence for a while. Rory felt a little weird considering this strange older guy was sitting in her room, who happened to be a werewolf. An Alpha werewolf. Who had pretty much eavesdropped on her whole freaking conversation. Rory wiped the tears from her cheeks, the surprise of Thomas knocking on her door brought her out of the whole crying thing. She rarely cried, and it was now making her angry that Stiles would be the one to make her cry. 

“Sorry… I shouldn’t have eavesdropped like that. Just… it’s a habit. This house usually has a few sounds and yours is different. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“Yeah.” Rory laughed a little. “It’s okay. I’m used to having very limited privacy.”

“I can go if you’re tired.”

“Sleep is something I am not good at lately.” Rory looked at the floor. That was true. She wasn’t getting good sleep lately, especially not last night. Having Thomas here may actually help. She wouldn’t be sitting in her room, alone trying to not think about Stiles or the phone call she just had. 

“I can keep you company if you want.”

“Sure. I might as well get to know the Alpha protecting my father.”

Thomas smirked, laughing. Rory knew that Alpha’s generally didn’t give information, but she was hoping that due to the situation he would be forth coming with her. 

“I’m a fairly open book.”

Rory took that as a challenge, asking every question she could think of. Even some that would push the level of confidence they had going. Things that might make him tell her that he wouldn’t answer that. After about an hour and a half Rory knew that Thomas was 22, Derek’s age, he was a bitten wolf and became an Alpha when he was 19. Thomas is originally from Oregon, joined the military right out of High School. And he currently didn’t have a girlfriend. 

At one point Rory was laughing so hard her stomach hurt. When the laughter died down a silence fell over them. The two had gotten physically closer on the bed since they had first sat down. A familiar tension filled the air, Rory shifted in her seat bumping her shoulder against Thomas’s accidentally. Simultaneously, Rory and Thomas leaned toward each other. Just as she felt his breath fanning over her, her phone rang. With a sigh she tilted her head down looking at her phone. Scott’s face plastered the screen again. 

“I’m sorry… I should probably take this.”

“It’s all good. I’ll see you later.”

Thomas left her room with a small smile playing on his face. Rory’s heart was hammering around in her chest and she didn’t know if it was because she was about to kiss Thomas, or the uncertainty of who was really on the phone. 

“Hello?”

“Hey Rory.”

A sigh of relief rushed through her. Scott’s voice filled her ear, she didn’t know if she had the energy to talk to Stiles again tonight.

“Hey Scotty, whats up?”

“What is up with the dude you texted me about?”

“He is an Alpha. My dad’s second. It is going to make this vacation a little difficult.”

“Going to get away from the supernatural to find supernatural. Seems accurate.” 

“No shit.” Rory laughed. “Scott, I know that’s not why you called me at midnight. What’s going on?”

“I just… I know Stiles took my phone. I know he called you. What did you say to him?”

“Why?”

“He is just acting a little weird that’s all. He didn’t even try to make up an excuse as to why he took my phone. All Stiles said was that he took it to call you because you weren’t answering him. Then he left.”

“We uh… we haven’t been speaking much lately. We might have argued… I don’t really know. I’ll… I’ll talk to him.”

“Okay. Be safe in the snow! Take some pictures!”

“I will. Be safe down there Scotty.”

“Will do. Love ya.”

“Love ya too buddy.”

When Rory hung up she shut off the lamp in her room and then curled into bed. She really did need to talk to Stiles, but she was still confused and hurt. For now she would try to sleep and enjoy the time she had with her father.


	3. To my lover, I'd never lie

Christmas was always Rory’s favorite time of year. The lights, the music, snow… all of it. Being without her mom was hard, but her father did everything he could to make up for it. She had worried that things would be awkward with the almost kiss on her first night there, but there wasn’t. Instead Thomas offered to drive her into town to buy gifts for her father, and drive her back. James offered Thomas a place at dinner for Christmas. 

Being as sarcastic as she was, Rory had wrapped in two small boxes under the tree small vials of wolfsbane and mountain ash for Thomas. They had agreed on a ten dollar limit for their gifts so it wouldn’t be awkward. As they all sat around the living room after dinner , Rory handed Thomas the two boxes and sat waiting. As the wolf opened the boxes, he didn’t touch the vials knowing exactly what was in them. 

Thomas cocked an eyebrow at her, in very Derek Hale fashion. A smirk playing on his lips. Rory laughed then moved on to opening her presents from her father and the one from Thomas. James spoiled her rotten. Literally, Rory was going to have to make a trip to UPS tomorrow and get things shipped back. The clothes he bought, obviously with the advise of Jenna, a new blanket that she had been wanting, and multiple other things. 

Rory opened the little package from Thomas. Inside was a necklace. It was silver, and had a charm that was the symbol of her father’s squadron. When Rory pulled it out of the box she had felt a little nervous. Someone she had just met bought her a necklace, but as she looked at the symbol she thought of all the times she had associated the symbol with her father. The tori that adorned the necklace was the size of a nickel and utterly perfect.

“There is no way this was in the budget.” Her eyes fell on Thomas.

“You would be surprised.”

Rory was about to snark at Thomas for clearly not abiding by the rules, when James piped up.

“Who is ready for Christmas Lights?”

In an instant she was up, running to the stairs to change into something warmer. When Rory came downstairs Thomas was staring. All she had done was put a jacket and beanie on, her blonde hair cascading out in curls. Rory slipped her boots on and stood at the door.

“Ready Commander!”

“He isn’t a Commander…” Thomas seemed legitimately confused.

“She has called me a Commander ever since she fully could understand what it meant for me to be in the military.” 

James squeezed Thomas’s shoulder as he handed the younger man his jacket. Thomas shook his head a bit and followed the two out of the house and to the SUV. 

“Mind if we make a pit stop?” James looked to Rory. 

“Only if we get hot chocolate too!”

“You still act like a kid sometimes.” Her father laughed. “Of course.”

“Then stop at Uncle Mikes.”

James drove through the snow, Thomas and Rory sitting in the backseat. It was tradition, they would pick up Mike and if they were lucky his daughter. Rory rarely got to see her cousin and by the looks of Mike’s house when they pulled into the drive, it would still be just them. Mike came out of the house, a bright smile on his face. He and James chatted about work, only interrupted by the barista who gave them their hot chocolates. Rory absently felt bad for the people who had to work on Christmas, but she was quickly brought out of that thought by Thomas.

He made some smartass comment, and Rory swatted at him. James chimed up from the front with his typical “now now children” comment. Throughout the rest of the night Rory was in awe with the lights, but she could feel Thomas staring at her more than the lights. While she missed enjoying these things with her father, and it was almost too crowded in the car, it was nice to know that James wasn’t always alone. He had friends and family to do their best at filling the void that was her presence in his everyday life. That made her briefly think of Stiles.

While they were on their way back from the last neighborhood, Thomas and Rory had been singing Christmas songs, with James and Mike laughing. It was the perfect Christmas. Until James’s phone rang. He turned down the music enough for him to hear and responded to the caller in clipped, short words. Out of habit Rory looked right at Thomas. He tried to look as if he wasn’t listening but she knew he was, especially when he sighed heavily and looked away. Staring out the window at the snow.

The rest of the car ride was silent aside from the Christmas music that was playing. They dropped off Mike, and then headed home. When they walked into the house Rory had had enough. She needed answers as to what was going on. 

“Okay, is anyone going to tell me why all of the sudden we got depressed?”

“Aurora…” James was now serious. No longer the fun loving dad. “We are being deployed. We have 48 hours before we are shipped out. I’ll pay for the extra luggage for your presents. We are going to have to move your flight to tomorrow evening.”

Her ears were ringing. Her father being deployed was not something that ever crossed her mind. And it wasn’t just her father… it was Thomas and Mike too. Shit. Everything seemed to be going to hell in a hand basket. 

“Okay. I uh… I’ll make sure that I pack stuff and be ready.” 

“I have to go get paperwork done. Are you okay with that?”

“Of course. Do what you have to do.” Rory smiled at her father. She knew he didn’t want to leave her on Christmas, and he didn’t want to ship her home early. But it had to be done. That was part of being a military child. Instantly there was a change in her demeanor. Rory stood firm, back straight, and on high alert. It was part of being in the pack. “I’ll see you in the morning right?”

“Promise.” 

Rory nodded, and her father stepped out the front door and back into the car. She had expected to feel alone, but Thomas was still there. Standing off toward the hallway. Looking at her as if he was surprised, or wary. 

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?” She was confused. What the hell was he talking about? 

“You changed. Almost immediately. It was like a shift but not.”

“Oh.” Rory actively tried to make herself look more relaxed. “It’s uh… It’s a habit you know. Being alert and aware. I’m one of the only humans in the pack so I need to have some competitive advantage.”

Thomas stood there for a while, just looking at her. It wasn’t creepy, but Rory started to feel off. More questions built in her head than were really necessary, but one was screaming inside her head. She shook her head, deciding better of it, and walked up the stairs to her room. 

It didn’t take her long to notice that he was following her. Not closely, not in a stalker predator way but just following. Almost like he was waiting for the breakdown. He wouldn’t see one. Rory was used to this. Her father being gone, and life turning upside down all the time. That was how her life worked. 

Meticulously she packed her things, setting clothes aside to wear tomorrow. As her things fit into the bags she realized that she couldn’t fit everything. Not with her gifts. 

“Shit.”

“What?”

Rory turned, finding Thomas leaning against the door frame.

“I don’t know where another bag would be. I might have to wait until Dad gets home.”

Thomas looked confused for a moment, then turned and walked into the spare room. When he returned he held a duffle bag. It looked military, and unfamiliar. Meaning it wasn’t her fathers. 

“This is outdated, but I usually keep it here just in case. I don’t use it and it should fit all of your stuff.”

Rory took the bag from him. Feeling the weight of it in her hands. She felt like she was on the edge of a cliff, waiting to fall off. Anxiety fluttering in her stomach for reasons she really wasn’t sure about. 

“Thanks.” 

“I’m just going to clean up the room I was staying in and get things ready to go.”

Thomas thumbed in the direction of the spare room across the hall, then ducked out of the doorway, closing the door behind him. When the door closed, Rory looked at her phone and saw the itinerary for her flight. Her flight would be tomorrow afternoon. 

She finished packing on autopilot. No longer needing to show someone that she was fine with everything. It was difficult, especially when she wasn’t okay for a lot of reasons. Once her bags were packed and everything was ready she tried to get some sleep. However, the joke was on her. Sleep wasn’t happening. Instead she laid there in the dark. Thinking. She thought about Thomas, her father, Uncle Mike, and the deployment. Then she thought about everyone in Beacon Hills, hoping they had a better holiday than she did. A rush of panic went through her chest. Rory’s eyes hit the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was almost midnight. 

Desperately she grabbed her phone, clicking through icons until she got to the right contact, then listened to the phone as it attempted to ring through.

“Hello?”

His voice was crisp. She caught him in time.

“Stiles.”

“Rory?”

“Hey… uh… Merry Christmas…”

“Merry Christmas to you too.”

She could hear the sadness in his voice. The last time they spoke it didn’t end well, at least it didn’t make her feel any better. But there was another reason for his sadness today. It was always hard on holidays. Eventually he would go through the house and clean everything up, make sure his father was in bed, and the whiskey was locked up. Occasionally he would take the whiskey to his room. Rory just hoped tonight wasn’t one of those nights.

“Uh… are you calling to check on me?”

“Yeah.”

“Everything is locked up tight downstairs. I was just laying here.”

“Good…”

There was a silence over the line. On nights like these, when it was particularly hard, Rory or Stiles would crawl through the window and they would just lay there… together, or do something else to take their minds off of it. 

“Rory… I… “ He sighed, it seemed shaky. “I don’t even know if you should be talking to me. It isn’t fair for you.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You know why.” His voice a whisper. Like he almost tried not to say it.

“Stiles…”

“It’s okay Rory. I should go.”

“Okay.”

Stiles hung up without another word. That was not how Rory wanted the call to go. Not at all. Now she laid there again. Thinking about how things have spiraled out of control the last few days. Rory rolled over and muffled her frustrated scream in her pillow. For a moment she laid there, her face in the pillow. She contemplated sitting there like that for a while. Her oxygen slowly depleting. Her heart started hammering in her chest, lungs screaming for oxygen. 

It took a moment for Rory to register the fact that she was being turned on to her back. Looking up she found Thomas. Of course it was Thomas. He had to have heard her yell, and her heart beat rising. He sat next to her, she could feel his hip at her side. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Concern laced his voice, which seemed odd for only knowing her for a short time.

“Nothing.”

“You’re not lying to me, but I know something isn’t right.”

“I’m a mess and I don’t know how to fix it, on top of that I ran away from a problem and I think I ruined a friendship over it.”

“That isn’t a reason for this.” He motioned to the pillow.

“Honestly, that was just… I don’t even know. The thought of doing something like that never crossed my mind. It’s like my mind is always running and I can’t stop it.”

Rory sat up a bit, attempting to be more level with Thomas. He looked down at her, it looked like a thought had crossed his mind, then he was moving. His lips hit hers with a gentleness. All to easily Rory let his tongue explore her mouth. Thomas’s hand moved to the nape of her neck holding her there until they moved to lay on the bed. 

Her mind was blank. She was just moving with Thomas as he moved. Not thinking just taking moments to breathe before their lips clashed again. His hands were skilled. Moving with precision. Slipping into the waistband of her sweats. Rory let out a gasp as she felt his finger slip through her. Her reaction was to slip her own hand into his pants, palming him through his briefs. As his fingers slid inside of her, Rory felt his lips on her neck nipping and sucking lightly. 

“Don’t leave a mark.” Her words breathy.

“You let him mark you.”

That was when Rory realized that she hadn’t been thinking. At all. She didn’t remember her shirt coming off, or taking Thomas’s shirt off. She knew the bruises hadn’t healed fully. They were still a faded purple color, harder to notice if you didn’t know they were there, or had supernatural vision. Thomas had kept his movements going, inside her and on her neck.

“Thomas…”

“Okay.”

His lips continue to move, but feather light. While his fingers moved diligently inside of her. Rory felt the need to do more, but now that she was thinking properly again something wasn’t right here. Thomas was her father’s second, and he wasn’t… it just wasn’t right. This was why she felt disposable. She did this to herself, no one else made her this way. Rory had to find a subtle way to tell Thomas that they shouldn’t do this. Before her brain could even process subtlety Thomas was pulling away from her. No longer touching her, adjusting his pants. For a moment she thought she had been talking out loud again. 

“Your dad’s home.” He must have read the confusion on her face. 

“Oh…. Oh!”

Quickly she scrambled to grab her shirt. Throwing it on while Thomas readjusted the rest of his clothing. Rory flipped on the light switch then sat on the bed.

“What are you doing?! He is going to come up here now.”

“Say something funny. I don’t care what it is… but it has to be funny.”

“Uh… okay… what do you get when you cross-breed a shark and a cow?”

“What?” Rory was hoping this was going to make her laugh because based on Thomas’s face, James was almost at the door.

“I have no idea but I wouldn’t try milking it.”

It was probably one of the stupidest jokes she had ever heard but she couldn’t stop laughing. By the time her father knocked on the door and opened it, Rory had tears in her eyes because she was laughing so hard. It must have been contagious because Thomas was laughing too. She looked up to see a blurry version of her father leaning against the door frame. 

“Hey dad.”

“What’s so funny?”

“What do you get when you cross-breed a…” Rory bursts into laughter again. Only finishing when she calmed herself enough to breathe. “shark and a cow?”

“Oh god. What?”

“I h…have no idea but I would… wouldn’t try milking it.”

Rory bursts into laughter again. This time she isn’t sure why she is laughing because the joke really isn’t that funny.

“I see the stage of exhausted delirium has hit. I’m going to hit the sack. Thomas, you might as well stay another night. Do you have everything ready?”

“Yes Sir. As always Sir.”

“Sounds good, see you in a few hours. You two get some sleep.”

“Night dad.”

Rory had finally calmed down when her father walked into his room. She heard the door shut and sighed. Thomas continued to look at her confused.

“What the hell was that?” He whispered. Closer to her than she remembered him being.

“My face was flushed. Laughing makes it look normal, like nothing was going on in his daughters closed room.”

Thomas just nodded. A small smirk on his face. He could clearly scent the arousal still clinging to her, but with her father in the house it was a bad idea. And she didn’t know why she had let it happen in the first place. Rory thought about it, and Thomas wouldn’t have this opportunity until after his deployment. She could do him a favor.

“That is one hundred precent not necessary.” Shit she was talking out loud this time. “Not that I wouldn’t be grateful and enjoy it, but your mind has been elsewhere. It really isn’t fair to you.”

“I just don’t… what is this?” She waved between them

“You’re right. A fling? Attempted fling.”

“It isn’t some werewolf thing…. right?”

“No. It is a hormonal man thing.”

“Ah.” There was a brief boost in her self-esteem, it felt good to be wanted, but Rory really wished it was Stiles.

“You should get some sleep. You have a flight tomorrow… well today.”

“You’re right. Thanks Thomas.”

“Anytime Rory.”

Thomas left the room, once again shutting the door behind him. Rory felt a warm heat all over, today was exhausting and she really needed sleep. She stood, walked over to one of her suitcases and pulled out Stiles’s Lacrosse shirt. Slipping it on instead of the shirt she had previously worn. This time it was easier for Rory to fall asleep.


	4. In the end, it's him and I.

Surprisingly Rory had managed to sleep most of the morning. She got out of bed around 10, managed for the first time ever to get her hair in messy curls and look cute, put on some makeup and got dressed. She took a look at herself in the mirror and changed her mind again about the clothes. When she finally settled she was wearing a new pair of jeans from her father, a long sleeve scoop neck shirt and a black north face. 

Rory secured her bags and starting to bring them downstairs when Thomas stopped her in the hall. He offered to take her bags downstairs and put them in the car. Usually she would glare, say she could do it herself but he was a werewolf and could lift anything with minimal effort. 

“Well A. Are we ready? You all packed up?”

“Yeah.” Rory looked at her father admiringly. He hadn’t called her A since the last deployment. “Aren’t we a little early though?”

“I figured we could grab some lunch. That way you aren’t hungry in the airport.”

“Sounds good.”

Thomas came back in. Looked to Rory then to James as if he was waiting for orders. Rory had been impressed with an Alpha’s ability to take orders from someone else. James asked if Thomas wanted to come to lunch. The wolf looked at Rory, almost as if he was going to ask her if it was okay. 

After last night she felt like there was tension. Rory had came so close to making a mistake. Thomas knew. He could tell be her body language and most likely her scent. Rory wasn’t angry with him or anything, she was just as much to blame. 

“It would be nice. I don’t know the next time all of us will be together. You okay with that Thomas?” 

She smirked. Knowing that he might not be able to see her again was swaying him. She could tell by the look in his eyes. 

“Sure.”

“Okay. Let’s get a move on. Load up.”

Rory walked out to the SUV whispering shotgun just loud enough for Thomas to hear. Once she was in the front seat she turned the warmer on and waited. Once Thomas got into the car he leaned forward whispering in her ear in a brotherly way. 

“You are such a challenge.”

“That’s why I’m part of the pack.”

James got into the car and drove them to the outback by the airport. Once again, a tradition. When they got to the restaurant Rory slipped into the booth and Thomas sat next to her with James a crossed the table. They filled the air will small talk until the waitress came, taking James’s order first then turning to Thomas and Rory. 

“And for the couple?”

“Oh. Uh. He’s not my boyfriend. He’s my... brother.”

“Oh my god.” The waitress turned beat red. The flush creeping up her neck to her cheeks and ears. “I’m so sorry!”

“We get that all the time. You’re fine!” 

This was a conversation that she was used to, but Thomas wasn’t the other part of the _couple._ No that seat was reserved for someone else. Someone that Rory wanted to think about but didn’t at the same time. Someone who was literally throwing her life out of balance with their mere existence.

In an attempt to take her mind off of it, and to put the waitress at ease, Rory gave the poor girl her order. The waitress blushed harder when she turned to Thomas. When she scurried away Rory snorted a laugh loud enough for her company to hear. 

“Brother?” It was James who spoke.

“It sounded better than friend. It is clear he is like the son you never had. Why not?”

“Nothing wrong with it. Just curious.”

Rory turned the conversation. The three talked about all sorts of things. It was like they were a family as Rory had suggested. The awkwardness from the night before with her and Thomas seemed to dissipate into thin air. When they were deemed finished, James excused himself and walked in the direction of the bathrooms. 

Thomas sat there for a moment before turning to Rory. Looking at her as if he had a bunch of questions that needed to be asked. 

“Is it weird… referring to you as a brother after last night?”

“A little, but it was good cover.” 

“I’m quick on my feet.”

“You are a lot of things.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I think you know what it means.”

Thomas scribbled something on a piece of paper and slipped it in the pocket of Rory’s jacket. She had reached to grab it, but her father had reappeared. He paid the bill and they headed to the airport. 

She hated this part. Saying goodbye to her dad. Being a daddies girl made this long distance parenting thing hard for her to handle sometimes. There had been days and weeks that she just wanted to bust through the front door and run to her father. The sturdy, secure, rock that he was. Days she was surprised to come out unscathed. The day she saw Stiles kiss Malia. Rory wanted anything to be able to run to her father and just be in his presence. It sucked. But she wasn’t willing to leave her friends behind, and she wasn’t willing to force her father to change his career and stop doing something he loves. 

Once at the check in desk, Rory stood off to the side as her father arranged her bags with the airline. Thomas had insisted on staying in the SUV but James and Rory wouldn’t have it. He stood off toward the other side of the room. Trailing behind as they walked toward security. This was it, the moment that they both hated. Once Rory was through those gates she knew her father would be off to base and they would be shipped out. This almost felt more permanent than it should. 

“I’m going to miss you Aurora. I’ll send my address when I can. You can write. I will write you as always when I can. And call when I can. You be safe with that pack.”

“I will dad. Be safe. Come home.” Her words muffled in her fathers shoulder. She squeezed him as tight as she could. Not wanting to let go. 

“You should probably get through security.”

“I know.”

“I love you A.”

“I love you too dad.” 

James stepped away and Rory looked right at Thomas. She smiled softly, walking over to him and embracing him. Sure they played it fast and loose for knowing each other for a few days. It wasn’t like her, but there was something about Thomas being by her fathers side that soothed her, and let her guard down.

“It was nice to finally meet you.”

“Thanks. It was nice meeting you.” 

Before Thomas let go he leaned in toward her ear. 

“He is lucky to have you. It will work.”

She knew he was talking about Stiles. How could he not be? Rory nodded. Pulling away and walking toward security. Once her back was turned and she knew they were walking away she whispered. 

“Keep him safe. Bring him home. Thomas… you come home too. Call when you can.”

Rory chanced a look toward the exit. Seeing Thomas holding the door for her father, nodding to her telling her that he had heard and that he would. Rory knew that no matter what she would never escape the supernatural. Not even here where it used to be her safe haven. She needed to get back and fix the mess she made. Or at least try. 

The plane ride was a little bumpy, and Rory tried dozing but she couldn’t. Instead she stared out the window the whole time. Jenna was waiting for her at the security checkpoint. Smiling brightly. She was wearing scrubs, Rory knew that she was going to have to work tonight. 

On the car ride home Jenna filled Rory in on her grandparents and their holidays. Rory told Jenna about her time and the unfortunate news of the deployment. She talked about Thomas a bit. Telling Jenna it was like having a brother. When they got home Jenna helped Rory with her bags then hugged her tightly and headed off to work.

When Rory was alone she felt really alone. Stiles hadn’t responded to the text message she had sent him before her flight. It was clear he wasn’t going to talk to her. Now that she was home she couldn’t ignore the elephant in Beacon Hills. She was restless. Running her hands through her hair, tossing it about in frustration, pacing. She just got home but she needed to get out of the house. Driving didn’t seem like the best idea, so walking it was. Rory changed out of her boots into adidas and kept the rain jacket. 

Initially Rory found herself walking a familiar path, one she wasn’t sure she should be taking. Subconsciously her feet were taking her to Stiles’s house. After their last conversation it didn’t sound like a good idea. Instead she turned at a stop sign and walked toward the convenience store a block down. If nothing else she would grab some candy a few energy drinks and call it a night. While she was perusing the aisles for things a familiar voice filled the air.

“I don’t know dude. Just… stop. I can’t tell if you are joking anymore and it makes me feel like I have to watch you all the time.”

“Scott?”

Rory turned down the aisle the voice was coming from. Landing face to face with one of her best friends. He was on the phone, picking through some protein bars. The ones that Melissa likes. He must be dropping them off for her.

“Rory! You’re back!” He pulled her into a hug. She could hear the muffled voice on the other line but she couldn’t make out anything it was saying. “You…. why do you smell like another wolf?”

“Oh… It’s Thomas. Remember… at my dads.”

“No you don’t…. not just your clothes. Your skin.”

Rory froze, trying to think of something to say, something that wouldn’t be a lie.

“He was staying at my dads. I guess he does a lot, I’m not surprised.”

“Sorry.” He whispered for a moment. “No dude. I don’t know what it means, I’m not asking either. No… just… don’t…. god damnit.” 

Scott pulled the phone from his ear and looked down at the screen. The person on the other end hung up. He looked concerned, but tried to hide it when he looked back at Rory. 

“Stiles?”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “Have you talked to him?”

“I did on Christmas… it didn’t seem like he wanted to talk to me anymore.” 

For once, Rory let her sadness and heartbroken feelings come to the forefront with Scott. The wolf in front of her grabbed a few bars and looked up at her.

“You know, maybe you should go see him. He can’t hang up on you in person.”

“He won’t let me in.” 

Rory grabbed a few candy bars, and held them with her energy drink and her soda while she walked with him to the register.

“You might be surprised. Maybe go over there when you are done here, it might surprise you.”

“Yeah I get it about being surprised… but I walked so it isn’t like I can just run over there. I’m not one of you guys.”

“I’ll drop you. I’m headed to the hospital then I am going to Allison’s. You two need some time.”

“Okay. Sure.”

They paid for their stuff and Rory followed Scott to his moms car. She briefly filled Scott in on Thomas as she has promised in her text messages. Of course, she left out the kissing part, and you know the almost having sex part. Scott had been concerned about Thomas being an Alpha at first, but shared Rory’s thoughts when it came to the realization that an Alpha was protecting her father in a war zone. 

Rory was about to get out of the car at the Stilinski house when Scott stopped her for a moment. Looking at her with a serious face. This time he wasn’t smiling, or his usual Scotty self. He was dead serious. 

“Rory, I need to warn you. Stiles hasn’t been… he hasn’t been himself.”

“When you were on the phone with him… you said you can’t tell if he is joking anymore…”

“He’s not… he hasn’t really been in the mood for self preservation.”

“Oh.”

She knew that Scott could smell her anxiety, and hear her heart starting to hammer in her chest. Stiles wouldn’t do that right? He would hurt himself… not over her. Scott had to be wrong. 

“Just… try to fix him yeah?”

“Okay. I’ll try.”

Rory stuffed her purchases in her purse and got out of the car. As she walked toward the house she passed the Sheriff. He was clearly getting ready to leave for work. Noah said hello, and let her in the house. Once the door was closed behind her, Rory surveyed the house. It was quiet. Stiles must be in his room. Carefully and quietly she walked toward his room, knocking on the half closed bedroom door.

“I’m fine Scott.”

She opened the door and stepped inside taking in the sight in front of her. Stiles sat on the edge of his bed. It was made, and looked like it hadn’t been slept in for some time. Which made sense because Stiles looked like he hadn’t been sleeping. In his hand was his phone. His long fingers spun it around, then moved as if they were going to text or call. Rory stood there staring. His hair was unkempt, and ridiculously attractive. She hated how he could make her feel like he was the center of her gravity without even knowing it. 

“Seriously Scott.”

“It’s uh… not Scott.”

At the sound of her voice Stiles stood, running a hand through his hair. Tongue darting out to wet his lip. Jesus she was a goner. 

“You uh… you’re back.”

“You knew that.”

“Oh right.. uhm… I was on the phone with Scott.”

A few moments of silence filled the room. It was tense, more so than it had ever been or ever should be between them. Rory dug through her purse and pulled out a pack of Reese’s cups. Handing them to Stiles.

“Scott said that you were…” 

She couldn’t even bring herself to say it. _Her_ Stiles would never do that… but he wasn’t her Stiles was he? Instead of saying anything she looked back at Stiles as he took the candy from her. Out of habit she put down her purse and stepped further into the room. Rory could feel tears burning her eyes, and she willed them not to continue on their path but it was futile. 

“I guess I haven’t made the right choices lately… or really at all for a while now. Scott uh… I heard Scott say that you… smelled like him….”

“Yeah…”

“That kind of smell only comes from close contact. Not just being in the same house. I know I don’t have the right to but…”

“Don’t be jealous. You’re still… I’m…” 

Before Rory could figure out the right words to say, Stiles was pulling her into him. She wrapped her arms around his waist. Rory felt Stiles let out a deep breath. She stayed there, with hesitance. Honestly, she didn’t know what this meant, or what anything meant anymore. When Stiles let go of her, she instantly felt like part of her was being torn away again.

“I’m sorry.”

Rory didn’t know what to say. There was so much that she could say, but how the hell does she even start this conversation. Stiles sat back down on his bed, trying to space himself from Rory. She didn’t know if it was for her benefit or his, either way she didn’t like it. Standing there, she looked around the room. It wasn’t the mess that she had grown accustom to. Instead everything was nice and neat. So… un-Stiles. Rory went back to what Scott had said about Stiles’s view on self preservation.

“Scott’s been worried about you.”

“I know. I guess I haven’t really given him a reason not to.”

With a huff, Rory stepped forward. Intending to sit down next to Stiles when her foot hit something under the edge of the bed. She stopped for a moment, bending down and grabbing the source of her confusion. The empty glass bottle of felt heavy in her hands. 

“Is this from before break started?”

Stiles looked ashamed. He looked like a liar. A stupid liar who lies. 

“How recent is this?”

“Christmas.”

“So you lied?”

“No.” He looked up at her, his eyes shining with unspilled tears. “I finished it Christmas day.”

Rory wondered what else he was hiding in this room. Things that would be easier for him to make bad choices. From the way Scott was behaving when he spoke about Stiles, and what Rory was quickly finding, there was no way he had been out of his room for long periods of time. He sure as hell wasn’t sleeping. Stiles needed to get out of here.

“I get it… you know… if you don’t feel comfortable here.” 

“Stiles…” Rory walked in front of him. “Get up. We are going to my place. Jenna is gone, and you just… you need to get out of this room.”

He just looked at her, as if she was crazy. Hell, she might be, but Rory wasn’t going to take no for an answer. 

“I’m not going to say it again.” 

With a humorless laugh, Rory grabbed the Jeep keys that sat on the desk. She picked up her bag and headed out of the room.

“Fine. I’m driving Roscoe home then.”

The plan had worked. Stiles was all but sprinting down the stairs after her. Snatching the keys from her hands, stepping outside toward the Jeep.

“She sticks in first. I’ll drive.” 

The whole ride home was silent. It felt awkward. It seemed like Stiles was trying his best not to look at her, or say anything to offend her. Dutifully he followed her through the house until they were upstairs in her room. Clearly she didn’t have time to unpack, her backs still sitting near her closet. 

“Stiles.” He looked up at Rory from where he stood near her door. “We need to talk about this. I can’t… I can’t have this tension between us. It is driving me insane!”

“Did I…” Stiles took a step forward, tapping his left hand with his right thumb. “Did you tell me to stop?”

“What?” 

“Rory… don’t lie to me. Did I rape you?”

His words hit her like a baseball bat. That’s what this was? Not that he regretting anything with her, or even being with her. Stiles was convinced that them having sex that night wasn’t consensual. The full weight finally settled on her. 

“Please say something…”

Immediately Rory was in his space, grabbing his hands. A tear slipped down his cheek. She had to fix this.

“No.” Stiles didn’t look like he believed her. “You didn’t rape me. I never told you to stop. I wouldn’t tell you to stop.”

“You should have.” Stiles gently pulled out of her grip. Walking further into her room. He looked toward her closet. No doubt seeing the bags. “I mean… you left. I… I left marks on you.”

That was it. Rory was getting angry. She didn’t care that he had marked her. It was his rule, not hers. If she had it her way she would be littered with marks saying she was his. Without even thinking, she took off her jacket, throwing it on the pile of bags. Letting her wrists and collarbone show. Stiles turned around at the movement. 

“See! Look at yourself! Look what I did to you!” 

“Yeah there are more too Stiles. But I. Don’t. Care.” 

Stiles looked ashamed again. What could he be ashamed of? 

“You left.”

“Yeah I did. It wasn’t because of that night.”

“Then why didn’t you respond to me?”

“Because I watched Malia shove her tongue down your throat for the thousandth time, literally a few hours after rolling around in the sheets with you.”

The boy in front of her looked down again. He was doing that a lot, and she hated it. This time his eyes trained on something, bending down and picking it up. Instantly Rory recognized the piece of paper that Thomas had shoved in her pocket. She hadn’t looked at it yet. 

“Thanks. Thomas, and a phone number. I see that he gave you his bag. I also know that he was there for you when I hurt you. I heard his voice, you inviting him in and telling me you couldn’t talk to me anymore. You were crying.” 

Rory didn’t know what to say. She could see the frustration, and the hurt. Maybe it would be easier to let him say what he thought.

“Then Scott said you smelt like him. Close contact is the only thing that makes your skin smell like someone else. I’m assuming he is a werewolf. He was probably gentle…”

“Stop.” Rory stepped forward, taking the note from his hands and throwing it toward her desk. “You’re picturing it aren’t you.”

“It’s kind of hard not to picture you being fucked by another guy. It’s pretty much all I have been doing since I called you. A bottle of Whiskey didn’t change that. Neither did thinking about driving into a tree.”

His voice was filled with anger. But not at Rory, at himself. She had to put a stop to this madness.

“You… you can’t do things like that Stiles. You can’t drink like that, you can’t just go drive into a tree because you thought you raped me, and you thought I was with another guy!”

“What else am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know! Do what I do. Wake up gasping for air because you have nightmares, watch from across the hall and feel like your being crushed every single fucking time.” Stiles looked at her with a confused look. “Yeah… that feeling you have, the feeling that you aren’t good enough, the feeling that you are just replaceable? It isn’t foreign to me.”

“Malia.”

“Yeah. I couldn’t be her, although from what you were saying to me it didn’t seem like she was winning any medals.” Stiles looked at the floor again. “Yet there she was in the hallway shoving her tongue down your throat like nothing happened. I couldn’t deal with that. You said you were done with her. Then you fucked me to oblivion. You were jealous of Theo, you said he couldn’t have me. What was I supposed to think? He can’t have me, he shouldn’t have Malia, you want Malia…”

“I’m done with her. I was done. She kissed me. I didn’t… Theo would hurt you… fuck. Not that I didn’t. I hurt you and you… what did he say? About the marks… I’m sure he was more gentle with you.”

That wasn’t the point of this. It didn’t matter who was more gentle or not. Rory’s ears were still ringing at the fact that Malia and Stiles were so done and over. She was analyzing everything that Stiles had said. Did he really want her? If he felt the same way, then it made sense. Rory felt worse and worse knowing that she had let Thomas touch her. Not that she wasn’t willing, but it should have been Stiles. A rush went through her, see could still feel Thomas on her skin.

“Did you mean it?”

“What?” Stiles was caught off guard.

“That you missed me? That night… you said you missed me… and that I should get a medal.”

“Yeah I did. I meant everything. I realized when I saw Malia with Theo that it could have been you. I wasn’t even mad that she was cheating on me with the biggest asshole I have ever met aside from Issac. I thought what if that was Rory. What would I do? But it was Malia. I realized how much I missed you. Not just having sex with you but _you_. Comforting each other, fuck I should have never said no labels. I should have put a god damned label on it. Instead I fucked up, and you left. Met someone else and he is probably better than me in every way…”

“We didn’t have sex Stiles.”

“You… you didn’t?” Rory closed the gap between them. “But you would have had to be practically having sex to smell like him to Scott. Was it because of what I did to you?”

Gently Stiles reached out, brushing his fingers over the fading marks on her collarbone. It sent a shiver through Rory. She was suddenly thankful that he couldn’t scent her every emotion. 

“After I called you, I may have screamed into my pillow. He came to see if I was okay. He kissed me. He touched me, we almost had sex. But we didn’t. I told him not to mark me, then he asked why I let you mark me. I didn’t get to answer because my dad came home, and we realized that was not a good idea.”

“You didn’t really let me.”

“I didn’t stop you. I could have. Stiles, the whole time he touched me… I wanted it to be you. Stop. Even after.” 

Rory had cut him off before he even started. With a deep breath, she leaned into Stiles, pressing her lips to his. Testing the waters. When Stiles kissed back, Rory felt a sense of relief. The kiss ended, but it wasn’t like before. They weren’t rushing to take each others clothes off. Instead, Stiles stood there, his chest rising and falling as if he was breathing hard. 

“You said he touched you…”

“Yeah.” Rory’s voice was breathy. “I can still feel it.”

Stiles just looked at her, as if he was unsure about what she was saying. With shaky fingers, Rory grabbed his hand pressing it against her, where Thomas had been. When she looked up at Stiles she could see the concern and shock on his face. 

“Are you… um…”

“I wanted it to be you.”

That’s when Stiles really seemed to get what was going on. His eyes flicked back and forth from her eyes to her lips. Rory kissed him again, but this time she pushed him back until he was on her mattress, supporting himself with his elbows. Rory climbed off of him, stepping back. Stiles’s eyes were on her as she took off her shirt and jeans. Leaving herself in her bra and panties. Stiles’s eyes trailed from her face down, until they landed on the faint marks on her hips. Instantly his smirk fell.

“None of that.” Rory climbed onto the bed, straddling Stiles, wrapping her arms around his neck. “It was fantastic sex.”

“Aurora.” It was a warning.

“What are you feeling right now? What were you feeling when I told you he touched me?”

“Jealousy. Then I just… I want to remind you what I feel like.”

“Good. Then do it.”

“Rory… I’m not going to do this as a friends with benefits.” He swallowed thickly. “If we do this it’s with you being my girlfriend.”

Instead of responding, Rory pressed her lips to his in a fury of emotion. From there it was like a whirlwind. Stiles had skillfully flipped them around and removed his clothes and what remained of hers. There was a hitch in Rory’s throat when Stiles slipped his fingers into her. Curling just right, and hitting the perfect spot to make her gasp.

“It’s hard to keep control.”

“Don’t… fuck me the way you want to.”

Rory almost screamed when Stiles worked her harder with his fingers. His lips on her neck, sucking. His hips twitching a little at her hip, she could feel him sliding against her with his pre-cum. It caused her legs to shake. She wasn’t going to last long. In the back of her mind she remembered Thomas taking longer to make her feel like this. 

“Did you come?”

“N..No…he didn’t…”

“Good.” 

Stiles took her right to the edge again. Still knowing her so incredibly well. He pulled his fingers away, slipping one into his mouth. If she wasn’t already wet, that would have done it. Stiles pushed her legs apart, fitting his hips between them perfectly. Stiles made quick work of the condom wrapper, and he lifted her leg, draping it over his hip as he slipped inside of her. Rory’s eyes rolled back at the sensation of being stretched to the point of breaking. This time he wasn’t moving.

“Hey…” Rory tried to focus on him. “Tell me to stop if I’m hurting you okay?”

She nodded, not trusting her voice. Stiles set a rhythm, and Rory was sure it was close to the last time they had been together. Her body jerked with every movement.

“Fuck… you’re so tight.”

A moan left Rory’s throat. Stiles’s hips were rolling into her harder, but his hands were gentle as they ran across her body. With each slam of his hips, Stiles let out a small moan. As if she was equally driving him insane. 

“He didn’t make you come but I can…”

“P..please… Stiles.”

Rory could feel her body starting to shake with the beginning of her climax. With a snap of his hips Stiles was sending Rory into the most intense orgasm she had ever felt. Her body contracting around him, causing Stiles to stutter. He fucked her through her orgasm. Slowing his own movements. Pushing into her slow and deep. As if he was savoring every move her body made. Rory could feel Stiles’s lips on her neck, and collarbone. Kissing the places he had previously left marks. Stiles had slowed to the point that his hips were barely moving. Rory started to think this was some sort of punishment he was giving himself. She wasn’t going to have it, she pushed at his chest and he moved willingly. 

Stiles removed himself from her and just looked at her. That was when Rory pushed him back until he was leaning on the head board. His erection was still glaring. He watched her every move as she straddled his hips and slid onto him. Tentatively he put his hands on her hips. As she moved it seemed like Stiles was getting with the program. His hips jutted up into her, groaning at each movement. Stiles’s hands slid up from her hips up her back, pulling her into him. It didn’t take long after that. Rory was oversensitive, and Stiles was starting to falter. With a breathy moan, Stiles body went rigid. 

As he came down from his high, Stiles pressed his forehead into Rory’s collarbone. Breathing deeply. When Rory felt like she could move again, she climbed from his lap and snuck out into the bathroom. While she was in the bathroom she chanced a look at herself in the mirror. For the first time in a long time she felt happy, she _looked_ happy. Holy Shit. Stiles wanted to be her boyfriend… instantly Rory was back on cloud nine. 

When she returned to her room Stiles had redressed himself, and he was sitting on the bed once again tapping his thumb. Rory pulled the lacrosse shirt and a pair of shorts out of her bag and slipped them on before joining Stiles on the bed.

“Is… is that my shirt?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you wear it often?”

“All the time.”

Stiles nodded, looking back at the floor. If Rory didn’t know better, she would have thought he was regretting it. Now she just wondered what made him look so nervous.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing.”

“Lie.” Rory cocked her eyebrow in a Derek fashion, pulling a laugh from Stiles.

“I guess I just… I didn’t ask you properly to be my girlfriend. I just said that if I am going to have sex with you I will do it as your boyfriend. I didn’t give you a choice… after everything…”

“Shut up Stiles. Yeah I want to be your girlfriend. I just… what is going to happen with Malia?”

“She will be pissed.”

“Figured. I mean we can keep it to us…”

Rory didn’t want to keep them dating a secret. They had kept them sleeping together a secret, and look how that worked. Malia will only think that she can win back Stiles if she doesn’t know he is taken. Scott will be pissed if they keep it from him, especially now. After everything she put Stiles through. 

“No.” Stiles turned to Rory. He was flustered. “No more keeping it a secret. I want to hold your hand, kiss you, walk with you to classes, meet you at your locker, drive you to school… I’m tired of hiding what I actually feel.”

She sat there looking at Stiles. This was going to be different. The pack would have to reassess. Rory was sure that Derek would groan about it but be happy they finally figured their shit out. With a tentative shaky hand, Stiles reached for Rory’s. Locking their fingers together. 

“Stay. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Okay.” 

Rory got up, walking to her closet and pulling out a pair of sweats that Stiles had left at her house. He changed into them quickly, and the two climbed into Rory’s bed. Stiles laid on his back, and Rory rested her head on his chest. This felt right. Laying with Stiles, wrapped in his arms, his heartbeat lulling her to sleep. The first time she would sleep without having a nightmare.


End file.
